The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Communication systems such as pay or subscription communication systems include a primary service provider and a user receiver device such as a set top box or integrated receiver decoder. The user device is typically provided with authorization to communicate with the primary service provider and receive services therefrom. One example of such a system is a satellite television system such as DIRECTV®. Broadcast television channels and other internal programs are provided by the primary service provider.
Sometimes customers experience problems receiving a channel. This typically results in the customer calling customer service to report that what was previously received is no longer being received. Diagnosing specific problems with channels over the telephone is difficult. The customer service agent must determine the package the customer has at the time of the call and compare the packages for the channel. To determine a package on a given channel, the schedule for the program must also be determined. This is time-consuming and, therefore, increases the cost of the system.